# Some really random and really trivial pet peeves **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 7, 2004, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017 "2004-07-07T21:51:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017/41 "2004-07-08T14:34:40Z")
> [@Mauvaise](#): > > I don’t think it’s intended to screw the post office, but as a fail-safe to the customer to ensure that their bill will get where it’s going. That way if something happens and for whatever reason the PO deems the letter undeliverable as addressed, it’ll be returned to the sender, which in this case, would be the recepient. > > On the few bills I actually mail (instead of E-pay) if the return address is left blank, I will fill it in with the company’s address myself. I think she’s referring to the practice of addressing the envelope that way, and intentionally forgetting the stamp. That way, when it gets returned to sender for lack of postage - ha! It gets sent to the recipient anyway. I mean, stamps may be 4 times more expensive than when I was a kid, but they’re still freaking cheap. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017/42 "2004-07-08T14:35:43Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > I think she’s referring to the practice of addressing the envelope that way, and intentionally forgetting the stamp. That way, when it gets returned to sender for lack of postage - ha! It gets sent to the recipient anyway. I mean, stamps may be 4 times more expensive than when I was a kid, but they’re still freaking cheap. Er, I think he was referring to that, too. Sorry, **BobLibDem** , hope the reassignment wasn’t too painful 😉 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017/43 "2004-07-08T14:52:54Z")
**Podkayne** wrote: > [@](#): > > For my own peeve: Does the woman on What Not to Wear on TLC have some pathological fear of plurals? It’s always, “This blouse falls nicely from the shoulder,” and “This skirt falls just above the knee, which really lengthens the leg,” and “This is a fabulous shoe,” and “We’ve paired this sweater with a tweed pant.” > > Which reminds me that she also tends to “pair” more than two things. “We’ve paired this jacket with a silk trouser and a fun handbag.” Actually, you’d be, uh, trippling it with them, or, uh, grouping them, or . . . something. But three things cannot form a pair!!! Maybe she’s a secret [King Crimson](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDMISS70311090941112836&sql=Abau36jah7180) fan. On second thought, that probably isn’t it. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017/44 "2004-07-08T14:56:53Z")
> [@spiralscratch](#): > > Oh, forgot my peeve… > > Whenever I take my car for service or to be washed or whatever, why do they need to move the driver’s seat? It’s only being driven a few hundred feet, at most. I’d think the workers could deal with a seat not adjusted to their own specs. My service always includes a road test of the car. They drive it quite some distance. ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017/45 "2004-07-08T14:58:49Z")
> [@Hunter Hawk](#): > > But what’s even “worse” is when “people” “overuse” “double” quotes “for” “many” “short” “terms” “like” in the “freaking” Zagat “guides.” They do that because they’re compiling a quote from what eleven different people have said. My pet peeve is poor customer service. Especially annoying is when a clerk ignores me because I’m dressed in a way s/he considers inappropriate or too casual or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![MizQuirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@MizQuirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizQuirk)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017/46 "2004-07-08T15:37:03Z")
~ When I can’t find the price of something in the supermarket because it’s NOT MARKED. The cheese department seems to be the worst at this. Or in other aisles the price is on the bottom of the bottom shelf in small unintelligible print and I’d have to be prone on the floor to read it. ~ Gooey lipstick left on a glass, cup, or anything. I can’t believe any man would ever want to kiss lips with that gooey bright red stuff on them. ~ When someone has a long list of things to count and they do it out loud in front of me and they don’t do it by twos. ~ Car alarms that don’t shut off after a reasonable time when it’s obvious that the owner has probably gone off with someone else for a while and is not available to stop the noise. I guess that’s enough for this time. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017/47 "2004-07-08T15:43:17Z")
Dear boyfriend, I love you like no other, but if you keep making noises while you eat I may have to strangle you in your sleep. love, Me P.S. That goes fer the rest of ya too. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017/48 "2004-07-08T16:09:23Z")
Argh mouth noises drive me batty. And my ex-MIL used to make this humming sound when she ate… Like an exhaled hum… “Chomp. Huhhhhhmmmmhhh. Chomp. Huhhhmmmm.” Drove be absolutely bonkers. Any mouth noises - even noisy kissing on TV. If anyone ever sounded like that while kissing me, I’d bite them. Horrid. Anyone, ANYone who eats while talking on the phone to me. How rude is that? It’s unfathomable to me. I can forgive a bite or two at the beginning of the phone convo - maybe I caught them mid-chew (in which case, they shouldn’t have answered th phone, but that’s fine) but when they’re chomping away merrily through the convo, forget it. I’ve said more than once “Look, I’ll call you back when you’re done eating.” I can’t stand it. I dunno, I guess a lot of it is childhood stuff. I am truly about as silent an eater as you’ll find - even my _own_ mouth noises drive me insane. Oh and \*\*Ludovic \*\* - can’t you just knock? Or assume that if the strip is there in the first place, it’s because someone is there? If there was a one inch gap between the door and the frame in our restrooms, you’d better believe I’d be hanging something up to block view. (Related to the last thought, but not really the thread. On the train the other day, a guy went to walk into the lav; looked up at the light, which was off. Tried the handle, which was unlocked, and so proceeded to walk in. Sure enough, there was a man in there, so the guy apologized and waited outside. When the occupant came out, he was _pissed_. Yelled the guy up one side and down the other for not having knocked first, protesting loudly over Guy# 1’s observations that there are locks and occupied lights on the doors for a reason. I always knock first out of paranoia, but I can’t imagine I’d be pissed at someone for walking in if it was due to my (intentional, according to the occupant) failure to lock the door.) ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017/49 "2004-07-08T16:14:39Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > I dunno, I guess a lot of it is childhood stuff. I am truly about as silent an eater as you’ll find - even my _own_ mouth noises drive me insane. I am also a silent eater. I pride myself on being able to eat anything silently, even chips, popcorn, etc. So, hon, you’re Not Crazy, and you can come to dinner anytime. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017/50 "2004-07-08T16:49:59Z")
> [@Hunter Hawk](#): > > I really hate it when people use double quotes to “freaking” emphasize words. I tend to write my posts like that and try to edit all of them out before posting. I don’t know why. I always hear chinese restaurant owners say “fry rice”. “you wanna fry rice o steama rice” ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017/51 "2004-07-08T17:13:45Z")
> [@Silver Fire](#): > > > [@The Scrivener](#): > > > > Public restrooms: > > > > 1. With cutesy or postmodern gender signage on the door > > At Red Lobster (at least the one I went to), they’re labelled “Sheshell” and “Heshell”, which was great fun. It depends on where you break your syllables. There’s a restaurant in town that has it’s bathrooms labelled “Pointers” and “Setters”. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017/52 "2004-07-08T17:32:55Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > I have issues with gender signage to begin with, but where I _really_ draw the line is when the signs read “Men” and “Ladies.” > > The masculine of “Ladies” is not “Men”. The masculine of “Ladies” is “Gentlemen”. The feminine of “Men” is “Women”. Thank you. > > ( **dr\_mom\_mcl** once visited a hospital in which the washrooms were very soberly labelled MALE and FEMALE. One pictures the male washroom and the female washroom getting together and making little baby washrooms.) I agree. One advantage of the now standard triangle and circle\* signage is that it avoids the whole problem of what to call each gender. I would like to see true parity in the use of “ladies” and “gentlemen”, but it’s probably not going to happen. “Lady”, in some contexts is used to refer to any woman, and there is definitely no such parallel with “gentleman”. “Gentleman/men”, if fact, is used in some contexts that are vaguely negative, like the strip bars that are springing up under the banner of “gentlemen’s clubs”. The word also implies advanced age, which is also somewhat true for “ladies”, but not so much. I cringed when someone was telling me about an electronics store and how they had tons of “walkmen” and “walk-ladies”. So there’s no doubt that we’ll continue to see men’s and ladies bathrooms, men’s and ladies clothes, and all sorts of other services and products for men and ladies. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017/53 "2004-07-08T17:40:36Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > - Those magazine inserts that make a casual bathroom-style flip-through an exercise in reading the same article over and over. > > . This reminds me…I’m minorly peeved that I actually had a job at a magazine distributor, between 1997 and 1998–and I had always wanted to ask someone there if they do the inserts partly to discourage newstand reading. But I forgot to do it. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017/54 "2004-07-08T17:41:39Z")
Hey dumbshits, maybe you can have your important conversation some place other than one foot in front of the doorway. Have you noticed the last few hundred people that had to squeeze past you? And just because you aren’t _on_ the stairway doesn’t mean you’re not _blocking_ the stairway. And while we’re at it junior, yer fuckin baseball cap is on ass backwards. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017/55 "2004-07-08T17:47:03Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > Well yeah. I mean, there’s no satisfying, reassuring “click” when you push the crosswalk button so you are never sure you told the lights that you’re there. You’d think so, but what actually inspired me to mention that one is that there is a particular crosswalk I use where they installed special lights for the visually-impaired. The buttons at this intersection actually make a clicking noise when you press them (they also light up). What’s more, they “click” on the _other_ side of the street from where the button was pressed. The other day, I walked up to the intersection, pressed the button once, heard the “click”, and waited. All of a sudden, I hear, “click, click, click, click…” Sure enough, a guy on the other side of the street is repeatedly pushing the button. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/839c29/32.png) [@Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phedre_no_Delaunay)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017/56 "2004-07-08T17:56:27Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > Why do some people say, instead of “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…”, “Mondee, Tuesdee, Wednesdee…”? It’s a DAY - it has the word “day” in it. How could you possibly mess that up? Because it is not incorrect. According to John Walker, an early English elocutionist: > [@](#): > > When _ay_ comes immediately after the accent in a final syllable, like _ai_, it drops the long _A_ sound, in the colloquial pronunciation of the days of the week. Thus as we pronounce _captain, curtain_, etc. as if written _captin, curtin_, etc. so we hear _Sunday, Monday_, etc. as if written _Sundy, Mondy_, etc.\* \*quote from Charles Harrington Elster’s _The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations_ ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017/57 "2004-07-08T17:59:01Z")
People who clear off the dish soap and brush from the counter in the office kitchen in the middle of the day. The fact that most workplace kitchens don’t have garbage disposals, meaning that forests of paper towels have to be used to clean off your lunch containers, before you can actually clean it, in the sink. People who, in their houses, completely shut their bathroom doors when they’re not in use, so you can’t tell whether or not someone’s using it. I don’t like having to knock on the bathroom door, mostly because when I’m using it myself, I don’t like to have other people knocking. I need _solitude_. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017/58 "2004-07-08T18:06:49Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Long ago someone posted a rantlet about the stupid Hawaiians that called shaved ice “shave ice.” I came to that thread too late, but I’ll answer it now: They know damn well what it’s called, and they resent haole tourists that come in and try to correct them. They resent being accused of not knowing the language, and they resent the implication that they are stupid. By correcting them, you only mark yourself as a snobbish outsider who has no fucking clue what it’s called, and yet you have the arrogance to presume you know better than Islanders. > **[Controlling Anger — Before It Controls You](https://www.apa.org/topics/anger/control)** > > Anger is a normal, healthy response to a threat and may be used for a constructive purpose. When anger becomes uncontrollable or is unexpressed, it may lead to destructive thoughts or actions. Tips for anger management. ---
**Author:** ![Marine\_One](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marine_one/32/3461_2.png) [@Marine\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marine_One)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017/59 "2004-07-08T18:17:59Z")
Those stupid animated commercials for future TV shows that are shown at the bottom of the screen _when the current program is showing!_ Or the dumb semi-transparent station logo. I KNOW what station I’m watching!!! People that pronounce AUNT as **ONT** instead of **ANT**! People that instant message me saying “Can I talk to you now?” and then say nothing. I ask where are you and they say “Oh, I had to go get a donut.” or “I had to call someone.” Well, TELL ME you’re busy, moron. Dummies in PLANETSIDE that scream “INCOMING ENEMY TROOPS!” in a base. **WHAT DIRECTION???** Give me an idea…a grid reference…something… ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017/60 "2004-07-08T18:23:36Z")
> [@Phèdre nó Delaunay](#): > > Because it is not incorrect. According to John Walker, an early English elocutionist: > Quote: > When ay comes immediately after the accent in a final syllable, like ai, it drops the long A sound, in the colloquial pronunciation of the days of the week. Thus as we pronounce captain, curtain, etc. as if written captin, curtin, etc. so we hear Sunday, Monday, etc. as if written Sundy, Mondy, etc.\* Well no offense to John Walker the early English elocutionist, but “captin” and “curtin” are not correct _either_. It’s true that the “ai” sound doesn’t get pronounced as such, but it’s replaced with a schwa sound in captain, and is dropped altogether in “curtain”. “Captin” and “curtin” are not listed as alternate pronunciations either in [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) nor in my copy of Webster’s. Perhaps “colloquial pronunciation” is another way of saying “incorrect pronunciation”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-really-random-and-really-trivial-pet-peeves/254017.md?page=4)